... be the difference-maker for a potential Super Bowl team’s season. As the Pittsburgh Steelers can attest, losing more than one of those key players can be the difference between defending your Super Bowl title and missing the playoffs completely. In 2009, the Steelers lost their way defensively, and while some of it had to do with decision making, it had more to do with losing two game-changing defenders early on. With All-Pro safety Troy Polamalu out for most of the season, and lacking that extra “disruptive-something” when he was there, the entire Steelers defense changed as a result. When you take away the most underrated defensive end in the league in Aaron Smith along the way, the Steelers lost two of the biggest cogs in...

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